


Quil

by xanemarths



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a Tumblr Post, But probably not in the traditional sense, Dissociation, Gen, Nonbinary Celice, Nonbinary Character, NyQuil, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 02:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11545224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanemarths/pseuds/xanemarths
Summary: Left without parental supervision, Celice fucks up real bad on their baby brother's medicine. Or, in which Julius experiences all the time, all the time.





	Quil

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this post, which is the most Juliuscore thing I've ever seen: http://princeymarmar.tumblr.com/post/162434596297/vampireapologist-vampireapologist-theres-a
> 
> I like family interaction and wish that Celice and Julius could've been siblings. Shh.

In some ways, Celice supposed that being nineteen had its perks - they were legally an adult, after all, which meant that they could do adult things, like use a credit card at a store, or obtain their driver’s license (still a work in progress; they somehow hadn’t quite managed to get past their learner’s permit yet). However, being an adult also entailed a newfound sense of _responsibility_ , and even though they were quite certain that being the oldest brother in a family of three kids, as well as being the second oldest cousin in the family, was quite good at helping to prepare someone for that responsibility, well…

They still didn’t feel that _anything_ could have prepared them for the first time both mom and dad had to be out of town.

Still, all things considered, it went relatively well. Together, the three of them knew enough about cooking and meal preparation to have more than just shitty fastfood and takeout for meals, and Altenna (who’d managed to get her proper license) agreed to drive by each morning to pick them up for school; after all, her own baby sibling was in the same class as Julia and Julius, so why not?  
And then, one morning, Julius woke up with a severe case of the sniffles.

Of course, Julius had always been the sickly one. If someone came to school with a cold, he’d be the one to catch it next; he’d been through everything from pinkeye to tick bite fever, seemed to catch the flu every flu season, and Celice remembered him being sick more often than not sick. By now, it was almost routine, and when Julius absolutely refused the notion of staying home from school and missing even more work, Celice knew they were beat. It was easier to comply with Julius’ wishes than to have him start bawling, and make himself even sicker.

So, on went the Vicks VapoRub, on went the surgical mask, into his bag went the hand sanitiser and all his other various medications - and then, Celice went to grab some cold medicine, and that was when they found that they were fresh out of DayQuil.

Had their parents been home, this wouldn’t have been as much of a problem, surely - they could just swing by a pharmacy on the way to school, pick up a new bottle, and give it to Julius in the car. Celice, however, did not have that same luxury of time, nor were they even the one who was going to be driving. Asking Altenna to stop at some place like Walgreens on the way to school just felt wrong, especially since doing so put Leaf at risk of being late, as well. No, no, they just couldn’t risk it; and yet, Julius looked so miserable…

Outside, they heard a car coming down their street, and they panicked, grabbing for the first thing they saw in their medicine cabinet. NyQuil was just like DayQuil, right? Same company and purpose and everything, just intended for nighttime use! They double-checked the dosage and poured it into the measuring cap, and Julius had just finished drinking it when a carhorn sounded outside to let them know that Altenna had arrived. Quickly as they could, Celice bundled Julius to the door, where Julia already stood waiting, and together they headed out towards the car.

* * *

They were most of the way to school when they realized their mistake, and by then it was _definitely_ pointless to ask Altenna to stop for medicine. In the backseat, Julius’ head lolled as he fought valiantly to keep himself awake, sniffling every time he roused himself. Every so often, Celice noticed Altenna’s eyes flick up to look in the rearview mirror, and when the car pulled up in front of the school, she didn’t immediately unlock the car doors. Instead, she turned to face Celice, and stared them dead in the eyes.

“Hey. Is Julius sick again? He looks just a bit too miserable to be going to school now, don’t you think?”

Celice sighed. “...I do. I agree. But he pitched a fit when I suggested he stay home, and I didn’t want him to get even more sick from being upset… I made sure he had all his medicine, and I gave him some NyQuil before we left-”

“You gave him _NyQuil!?_ ” Altenna asked, incredulous; Celice felt the urge to raise their hands in self defense.

“We didn’t have any DayQuil, or any other cold medicine for that matter - I couldn’t just let him go to school miserably sick without any sort of relief!”

Altenna sighed, heavily, clutching at the steering wheel with both hands. “Celice, NyQuil is meant to help people sick with colds to _sleep_. No wonder he’s crashing so hard! Look at him, he can barely keep his eyes open, much less pay attention, or do anything in school.”

“...Oops.”

Altenna sighed again, and glanced over at the glove compartment. “...Look. I think I got some Red Bull in there, okay? Just let him drink that, and hopefully it’ll all even out and he won’t just fall asleep in class.”

It seemed logically sound, so Celice nodded and popped open the compartment. Sure enough, there was a can of Red Bull sitting inside, and they wasted no time handing it back to Julius, telling him that it would help with the sleepiness so he could get through school. Julia had to help him hold it steady enough to guzzle it down, but it was gone quickly enough, and the three children were able to climb out of the car and into the school.

“Think he’ll be okay?” Celice asked; Altenna just shrugged, staring at the school’s entrance like that held the key to the mystery.

“Dunno. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Text me if the nurse calls though, all right?”

* * *

The nurse did not call, and finally the nerve-wracking eight hours were over and done with. Celice almost swore Altenna drove them to school just a little faster than normal, but for all their worries, everything seemed all right when they pulled up. All three kids were at the entrance, and Celice exhaled a sigh of relief they hadn’t realized they were holding, before exiting the car to check on Julius for themself. “Hey, Julius… How are you holding up? How was school today?”

“...School’s over?” Julius asked, incredulously, scanning Celice’s face for any hint of a lie - beside him, Julia gently bopped him on the arm with her fist.

“Of course it is, you goose! It’s three o'clock already, Celice is here to pick us all up!” she said, before looking directly at Celice, a wide grin on her face. “You should have seen him! I didn’t think it was humanely possible to write that many pages in under an hour!”

Celice turned to look at Julius, who was now staring blankly ahead at something perhaps only he could see, and they bent down until they were at eye height with him, and gently grasped his shoulders. 

“Julius,” they asked, “what happened, exactly?”

It took Julius a moment to think the question over, and another to answer. “...You dropped me off at school, and, immediately after, the final bell rang.”

Slowly, Celice turned to look over their shoulder at Altenna, and the look on both their faces probably read the same thing - _let’s_ not _tell my parents about this_. After a few moments, they straightened up, patted Julius on the back, and together, they all got into the car. “Hey, Altenna? Can we stop at like, Walgreens on the way home, or something? I think I should probably get some DayQuil.”

“...I think that would be a very good idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe this is the 100th fe4 fanfic on ao3?


End file.
